Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Although past research indicates that giving birth at a young age and prior to marriage negatively affects mental health, little is known about the role of individual expectations in shaping these associations. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, the authors consider how individual expectations for the sequencing of marriage and parenthood and the timing of first births shape mental health outcomes associated with premarital childbearing and age at first birth, and they investigate variation in the role of expectations across gender and race/ethnicity. Results indicate that expecting children before marriage ameliorates the negative mental health consequences of premarital first births and that subsequently deviating from expected birth timing, either early or late, results in increased distress at all birth ages. In both cases, however, the degree and manner in which expectations matter differ by gender and race/ethnicity. Expectations for premarital childbearing matter only for African Americans’ mental health, and although later-than-expected births are associated with decreased mental health for all groups, earlier-than-expected births are associated only with decreased mental health for women, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic whites.

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This study examines how gender attitudes moderate the relationship between employment and depressive symptoms using data from the 1987 to 2006 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Cohort. Results indicate that at age 40, the association of employment with reduced symptoms of depression is greatest for mothers who had previously expressed support for traditional gender roles. This finding was robust to controls for prior depressive symptoms. In contrast, the association of employment and depressive symptoms at age 40 does not vary by earlier gender attitudes among childless women. Results suggest that in light of women's disproportionate share of domestic responsibilities and limited employer supports for parents, skepticism over mothers' ability to "do it all" may mitigate the stress of work-family role strain and allow mothers with more traditional gender attitudes to receive greater protection against depressive symptoms from employment.

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

In this paper, we contribute to a growing literature on debt and mental health and ask whether patterns of unsecured debt accumulation and repayment over two decades are associated with depressive symptoms at age 50. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1979 Cohort and group trajectory models, we have three key findings. First, we find substantial heterogeneity in debt trajectories across the life course. Second, respondents who report consistently high debt levels across the life course or who cycle in and out of high debt report significantly more depressive symptoms than respondents who hold consistently low levels of debt. These findings hold for both absolute and relative (debt-to-income) debt. Third, we find that the association between debt and depressive symptoms is strongest among respondents with less than a college degree, but we find less evidence for heterogeneity by race in this cohort.

Bibliography Citation

Sun, Amy Ruining and Jason N. Houle. "Trajectories of Unsecured Debt across the Life Course and Mental Health at Midlife ." Society and Mental Health published online (17 December 2018): DOI: 10.1177/2156869318816742.

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Adolescence is a period of tremendous socioemotional change, when youth develop important relationship skills that they carry with them into adulthood. The mental health of individuals during this period might act as resources or impediments that impact their ability to cultivate such skills as well as outcomes in their later romantic relationships. The current study examines how multiple dimensions of adolescent mental health (depressive symptomology, self-esteem, mastery, and impulsivity) are associated with outcomes in romantic relationships across the transition to adulthood, such as relationship conflict, relationship happiness, and number of dating partners. Youth with higher mastery, self-esteem, and impulsivity during adolescence had more romantic dating partners across the transition to adulthood. High levels of depressive symptomology and low mastery during adolescence were also associated with greater conflict within dating relationships in young adulthood.